Various types of furring channels are disclosed in the prior art and are commercially available for securing a structural element, e.g., plywood, composite-board, sheetrock, etc., to it to form a ceiling for a building. Such furring channels are configured so that they are mountable on a load bearing member, such as a drywall grid system. Drywall grid systems are available from various sources, such as Armstrong® Ceiling Solutions, Certainteed Ceilings (St. Gobain), United States Gypsum, Chicago Metallic (Rockfon) and others. Such grid systems typically include main tees or beams and cross tees which are interconnected to one another and to which the structural element is secured to form the ceiling. Instead of utilizing a grid system comprising main beams and cross tees, one can utilize only main tees or beams to mount furring channels thereon, whereupon the structural elements can be secured to the furring channels.
One common type of furring channel which is suitable for mounting on the main tee or beam of a drywall grid system is a U-shaped member having bottom wall and a pair of spaced-apart sidewalls projecting upward from the bottom wall. Each of the sidewalls terminates at a somewhat narrow inwardly directed, downward angled flange having a free edge. The free edges of the inwardly directed flanges are spaced apart by a width that is less than the width separating the sidewalls. In order to connect or mount such a furring channel on the main tee of drywall grid system, a clip or some other connector must be provided. While there are prior art clips and other connectors for that purpose they leave much to be desired. Accordingly, a need exists for a clip which improves upon the prior art.
The subject invention addresses that need by providing a clip and method of mounting the same on a load bearing member, e.g., a main tee or beam, of a drywall grid system, and once so mounted enables one to readily mount a furring channel thereon. Moreover, the clip is simple in construction, easy to install and effective in operation.